CDCI Supports Special Education Initiative in China

Dr. Craig Barringer of the University of Vermont's Center on Disability and Community Inclusion (CDCI) is continuing the Center's efforts to support inclusive education in China. In April, Dr. Barringer will present a Chair's Invited Session entitled Special Education in China, at the Council for Exceptional Children National Convention in Texas. The presentation will involve invited guests from China, who will discuss the history, changing cultural biases, inclusion barriers, and planned reforms in rural and urban schools. In a second presentation at the convention, Dr. Barringer will discuss Teachers' Views Concerning Academic Problems in Rural Chinese Schools in the Era of Chinese Educational Reform.

He has also been invited to Beijing Union University to present two workshops this summer; Special Education Techniques for Students with Intensive Needs, and Manifestations of Psychiatric Disabilities in the Classroom-How to Respond.

Dr. Barringer continues his work with The Ginkgo Academy, a Partnership of agencies and organizations committed to developing inclusive education in China. This past September Zhao Chunli, of Ginkgo Academy, visited CDCI and presented to the University community. Chunli is a key figure in this international effort to build a model school for people with disabilities in China. She shared her inspirational story of overcoming her lack of formal education, to becoming a leader in the Special Education movement in China.